Here's my review of town of Halifax in West Yorkshire. I have lived here for only 1 year and a half and although it has a bad reputation in some ways, I would like to show you it's not such as bad place. Funnily enough, I even have to convince people from Halifax! And to top things off, I have moved here from New York when I married my husband so imagine the way people look at me when I say I like this place. But I do.
As mentioned, I have not lived here for a very long time, in fact, I have only lived in England for 4 years but I quite enjoy living here.I have been working in Halifax for 2.5 years so I noticed some changes since I have first visited this place.
Halifax has been branded as a chav town and a haven for people who have nothing else to do at weekend but to get very drunk and puke all over sidewalks. But there is more to this town than most people see or want to see.
Halifax has a fascinating history and by speaking to some residents I was informed that it used to be a bustling townin the 19th century. For a small town which is is, it used to have loads of theaters. There are not many left now but you still have Victoria theater where you constantly have all kinds of performances and entertainment for all kinds of people. I myself have been there couple of times and I can tell you, that maybe London has all the great performaces, but how many of us can afford to see shows for £50 on a regular basis? At least in a small town you get too see more for less money and it does not mean it's any less interesting or entertaining. But I am cheating a bit and have gone to Alhambra theater in Bradford but only because I like ballet and things like that and Alhambra has some great performances.
I can mention all the landmarks and attractions or at least some of them that Halifax offers which are Piece Hall, Shibden Hall or Eureka museum for kids but I really wanted to concentrate on the spirit of the town.
I have moved in to Halifax when there weren't many apartments in town that "young professionals" moved in to. In fact , I can recall only one place where I knew they had nice flats. I managed to find a flat right in the centre fortunately that was brand new. However, since that time I noticed that the trend has finally taken on in Halifax as well and people are moving into town and many new flats became available as people appreciate that being close to work, shops and entertainment is a good thing. Especially if you have no kids so you don;'t mind not having a garden etc. And in my case, if you can't drive...As you can see, we are probably a bit behind here but at least Halifax is catching on with the rest of the world.
Halifax has changed even since I have first came here as you have loads of small butiques and there are several clothing shops where you can buy trendy clothes without having to go to Leeds or Huddersfield. We have our own deparment store and in general I am quite satisfied with the amount of shops for a small town like Halifax. Surprisingly, Halifax in the last year has taken in to actually... prepare for this... opening CAFES !! And I don't mean greasy spoon cafes, I mean proper Starbucks style places with leather sofas and cappuccinos. Pity that they are only open until 6pm the latest as unfortunately, not as many people here yet appreciate the difference of seeing your friends in a pub and not being able to hear yourself talk with actually having a conversation over a cup of coffee and basically being able to have that conversation. But we're getting there....We have few restaurants in town and you can't say there is no where to eat. But still there are more pubs and clubs here than anything else. It's just a bit sad sometimes that people really dont have anything else in their lives but alcohol and developers take advantage of that and rather than encouraging people to do something with their lives, they make poeple think that drinking is the only fun thing to do. And afterwards arguing in front of my house at 3 am...
Other things worth mentioning are that there is a lot of cultural stuff going on around. Shibden Hall which is a local landmark estate with adjoining huge park offers craft fairs and in general its a nice place to take your kids of just to go to on during a weekend. It has a lake with boats, a little train you can take a ride on ( I did !) and lots of space of a picnic. There is also Dean Clough which is a former mill which is virtually 10-15 mins walk from the centre which has a great gallery and design shop and a cafe so should you have nothing to do again during the weekend, it's worth a visit. Piece Hall which is a local landmark also has lots of attractions through the year and you can see local bands or go to fairs and festivals.
I could mention other things going on but really, the point of this review is to change people's idea of what Halifax is. There are many new developments in town happening constantly, the business is booming and there is some kind of help fund for developers which I see around which encourages people to open businesses in town. It's a small place but other than drinking at night you can find something different here. I hear there is a plan of opening a new cinema and bowling alley in the car park on Broad Street in the centre so I imagine when this happens ( I think sometime 2007 or so ) this will change the atmosphere from "let's go get pissed tonight as usual" as there is nothing else to do into "let's do something fun that we will still remember the next day "!
Come and visit Halifax if you're in the area as it's not as bad as it seems ! And it is getting better. And if you are a fan of architecture and design like I am, you will really love all the old buildings in Halifax as there are still many and I hope they will never be knocked down as they really make the town a nicer place.
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